


Achilles' Heel

by labeautelivresque



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, The Iliad - Homer, The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: M/M, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 18:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10882605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labeautelivresque/pseuds/labeautelivresque
Summary: This is a poem I wrote for a college level poetry workshop, inspired by the myth of Achilles.





	Achilles' Heel

It was Helen’s face that  
launched a thousand ships,  
but _you_ unleashed Achilles.

How were you to know that  
poets would sing of his rage?  
– that innumerable men would  
meet their deaths at the end of  
his grief-stricken spear?

How were you to know when you  
went to battle in his armor that  
you would never return to him?  
– that you had brought about his  
death as surely as your own? 

He wept –  
and his mother in the depths  
of the sea heard his cries.  
He wept –  
and he dirtied his face,  
and tore at his hair, and wished for death.

Eternal glory was not worth the price he paid.  
It was not worth the loss of _you_ ,  
Patroclus, whom he loved as his own life.

What was Achilles to do when his heart  
burned with you on the pyre?  
What was he to do when his home became  
nothing but ashes in a golden urn?

He was nearly a _god_ –  
son of a goddess, best of the Greeks.  
He fell to an arrow, the poets say,  
guided by Apollo himself.  
       The poets are wrong.

He was _nearly_ a god –  
but he was mortal, and he fell to that  
great mortal weakness: love.  
You would have followed him anywhere, even into death.  
You must have known that he would do the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, & thank you to everyone on Tumblr who got this poem to over 1000 notes! If you haven't done so already, I would appreciate a like/reblog on the post there, which can be found [here](http://dreamimpcssiblethings.tumblr.com/post/157324432530/it-was-helens-face-that-launched-a-thousand). 
> 
> And, of course, a comment is always appreciated! Much love to everyone!


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